That was good

Yesterday was the Toronto ‘Knitter’s Frolic’, the annual weekend event organized by the Downtown Knit Collective. It is probably one of the biggest crimes of my knitting existence that I never actually went to this event while I was a resident of Toronto. But now, I see the fun and it was a good 2nd annual trip.

Of course, I made the extra dim move of bringing my camera with me but then forgetting in the car, so while I saw just about every knitter I know in the Greater Toronto Area, and fondled more delicious yarns than I could possibly purchase, this all went completely undocumented. Thankfully, though, my purchases did not.

I had a main list of 3 stops I wanted to make, and one of them was Wellington Fibres. From them I snagged some beautiful grey mohair/wool laceweight, and most importantly, a skein of 3-ply worsted mohair/wool for swatching (the darker green). I’ve been thinking long and hard about making ‘Staghorn’ from A Fine Fleece, and would like to use some local yarns if possible. On my last spin through one of the vendor rooms, though, I spied another option at the All Strung Out booth, a new shop in the Guelph area. Turns out they have their own ‘Libertina’ yarn line, which includes a 3-ply mohair/wool option, also processed by Wellington Fibres as it turns out. So, I’ll ponder both of these and see how they swatch up in some cables.

My next stop was the Naked Sheep, where Lisa was holding a Namaste Zuma bag for me. I’ve been looking at this new one online for a few months and finally caved, and asked them to bring it to the Frolic for me! After a grand total of 24 hours of use so far it’s doing well, it is much more purse-sized than handbag sized but still comfortably fits a sock bag, novel, wallet, camera, and miscellaneous doodads.

Also pictured: a Peacock Feathers Stole pattern by Fiddlesticks Knitting, (from another booth whose name I forget now, boo), and a lone skein of Manos wool from the Purple Purl. (But it’s okay – I splurged in the Purple Purl sale section when i was there on Tuesday, and may yet again this week…hmmm.) Those Purple Purl ladies, though, they know how to do up a festival booth. The sales and selections were running rampant and the temptation factor was high.

The third stop on my list was most definitely Tanis Fiber Arts. I was thrilled that Tanis came to the Frolic this year, as her yarns are quickly becoming some of my favourites. She brought her full selection of aran, fingering, and – new! – laceweight. I took a long time to decide on a laceweight colour and nearly took more than one, but eventually decided on a ‘stormy’ blue laceweight and a ‘plum’ purple thrummed mitten kit. I also wore my completed Oyster Bay shawl in her fingering weight, and was pleased to show it to her in person.

It’s fun to be all about the yarn some days, even if the wallet does groan a little bit. And now, I’m a temporary Toronto resident for a few days and have taken up cat-sitting duties at Lisa‘s place. Greedo and Somerset are not all about the yarn, however, they are more about food, and laps, and sleeping, and ensuring a minimum level of cat hair content in one’s knitting, so that’s a good speed to live at too. A person could get used to that. I’m hoping to get out to some Toronto knitting nights this week, and do a bit of city exploring!

And more than a bit of knitting is on the list too – I have officially started Autumn Rose. So much to do, so little time! Happy knitting this Sunday.

A Fabulous Frolic! I could do with a bit of a Frolic like that!
I really like the design of Zuma and what a great colour. Your yarn choices are, as always, wonderful. Looking forward to seeing the knitting up…
Have a delightful time in Toronto this week!

Thrummed mitten kit – want! 😉 Something only those of us who live in the frozen northland can really appreciate, I think. From the moment I heard of (and then looked up) thrummed mittens, I have been in “want!” mode, and that combination of yarn and roving looks simply luscious. 🙂 Good haul!

I love all your picks! The Tanis booth really tempted me, but I must admit that I made hasty purchases early on (though regret them I do not!) and was over my arbitrary limit by the time I got to Tanis. Such lovely colours! The ones you got are beautiful 🙂